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[quote=Anonymous]I am a middle school teacher. I don't want to give too many details so I'll just say this was not part of the lesson-- a student raised his hand and asked "are you an atheist?" I was surprised, to say the least, as my subject does not involve religion.

I tried to brush it aside and say we are discussing ________ now and the student pressed it again ("but are you?") We finally moved along. I know the student was only asking out of curiosity, and am not upset by him; no behavioral issues there or anything- he wasn't trying to be disruptive,

It turns out religion came up in another class, and another teacher identified me as an atheist (which I am, and I will speak without reservation to that when relevant with adults- but I don't share that with my students for a few reasons). A lot of them are Christian, some Muslim, and I don't think they have been exposed to atheism before. There can also be a lot of stigma against atheists. Last year, in an unrelated assignment, one of the sweetest students I had wrote about how he thought anyone who wasn't Christian should be dead. I know for many of them, religion is important, and I am not ready to be the first atheist they know, or have them question me or my morals/judgment/values for my belief (or lack thereof).

Clearly I am not very happy with the teacher for sharing this information, but I will speak with her about it. But it is also making me question myself and my motives. Should this be hidden from my students? Should I expose them to another way of thinking? How will they perceive me? What would you do?

If you are a parent, what do you think? An atheist parent? Religious parent? I don't know what I should have done- I was taken aback. I know this answer will differ for everyone; I am interesting in thoughts since I don't even know how I feel.

I am thinking about pulling that student aside, outside of class tomorrow, and speaking with him about it. But I am not sure.[/quote]

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